Climbing Trees
by Yamino Majo
Summary: For the Saiunkoku fic comm, Secret Santa 2008. What every boy should learn and don't try this at home .


Climbing Trees  
For the **saiunkoku_fic** secret Santa.  
Rating: G  
Summary: Boys climbing trees.  
Notes: this is the edited version I should've given to **cairnsy** to post, but alas, alas.

**

Seien took a step back to ponder the problem. Beside him, Ryuuki sniffled and scrubbed at his nose with this sleeve, which prompted an absentminded "Don't do that," from his older brother.

Finally, Seien chuckled ruefully as he gently ruffled the younger boy's hair. "How in the world did you even get it up there, Ryuuki?"

The brightly colored ball peered through the branches and leaves of the tree at them. It was stuck high in a forked branch, about the height of five grown men from the ground. From the way it looked, not even a well aimed stick or rock could dislodge it. Ryuuki looked down and scuffled his feet, and Seien suddenly felt a twinge of the old, cold rage through him, cutting through the sensation of pleasant amusement. Of course Ryuuki's arm wasn't strong enough to throw the ball up that far, nor would he have any reason to aim in that general direction. Any one of his other brothers and their adult cohorts though...

Before he could get too far in his dark and violent thoughts, Ryuuki's voice broke through his musings. "...can you get it down, Aniue?"

Seien shook off his homicidal urges and smiled reassuringly. "We can try."

What came next was perhaps not the best thought-out course of action, but seemed the most straightforward. From the few rocks and sticks littering the grass near the tree, Seien guessed Ryuuki already tried other means of dislodging the ball from its perch. While he knew he could probably throw harder and more accurately than Ryuuki, the angle was somewhat tricky and blocked by a few other limbs. So instead, Seien went over to one of the lower overhanging branches--about the height of a man, and jumped, caught the branch with his hands, and hoisted himself up.

Immediately it became apparent that while the groomed trees of the palace were fairly easy to climb, it was unwise to make the attempt in his robes. But Seien wasn't about to jump down and then change before continuing--in some odd sense it would seem like he was losing to the tree--so he pressed on determinedly.

It wasn't so bad once he got his feet under him again, and there was a minimum of awkward floundering on how to get his feet where they needed to go without tripping over his hems. The tree was sturdy, the bark dry but not too rough, with the added advantage of being firmly attached. The branches were conveniently spaced in most parts, and pretty soon Seien settled himself with a sigh on the thick bough right beneath the stuck ball.

A few birds chirped in the distance, and when he glanced down, the distance made Ryuuki seem even smaller than usual. Seien waved, and got a wave back, and lifted the ball from its resting place. "Ryuuki, I'm going to drop it back down," He called.

"Okay!" Ryuuki's voice floated back up to him, and Seien released the ball where he could see the largest gaps in the branches. It fell unhindered except by a few leaves, and he watched Ryuuki scramble to grab it after a few bounces.

He kicked his feet for a few seconds, enjoying the quiet. Seien didn't particularly have a passion for climbing things, but he had to admit it was nice once he was here. But there were too many strategic disadvantages to being in a tree once someone knew you were up there--if anything happened, there was rarely anywhere to go but up--and he didn't plan to make a habit of it.

Seien took extra care climbing down, once again cursing his lack of forethought to attempt this at a different time, preferably when he wasn't wearing robes. At this rate he was going to have to change anyway, with scuffs on his knees and elbows and probably leaves in his hair. His right sleeve caught, and he had to pause awkwardly to try and balance between branches long enough to free it.

Even with his precautions, it didn't take too long to get back on the ground. Ryuuki trotted up to the trunk and stayed out of the way as Seien dropped down from the lowest branch. He dusted his hands off and turned to Ryuuki, who was holding the ball with both hands. His little brother was beaming, and Seien couldn't help but smile back.

"There, that wasn't too bad," he said, picking a twig out of his own hair.

"That was really cool!" Ryuuki exclaimed. "Can you teach me to climb trees, Aniue?"

Seien paused, horrified. A thousand images flashed into his mind (none from personal experience, of course) of Ryuuki falling out of trees. "Absolutely not!" he said, a bit more vehemently than he meant to.

Ryuuki's face fell. "Why? Aniue did it so easily, and in robes too!"

"It's too dangerous," Seien said firmly. "You'll fall and hurt yourself."

"I won't fall, I promise!"

Seien decided to head off further pleading by taking Ryuuki's hand and heading back to his rooms. It was almost time for Ryuuki's afternoon lesson, and both of them looked rather scruffy. "It's not something that you can promise not to do, Ryuuki." He tried to reason. "Can you promise you won't sneeze if I tickle your nose?"

Ryuuki still looked doubtful, but shook his head. "But Aniue is so good at it."

"I'm not that good at it," Seien replied. "I've just had a little practice, that's all."

**end


End file.
